Category Archives: Shopping

Bargain Buys

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Following on from my post on Saturday, I have bought this bag.

2015-03-21 03When I went to buy it, the sales assistant pointed out that if I bought 2 items they would both be 25% off.  I did not need another bag but then she added that it included any merchandise including wallets, hats and scarves.  I was not necessarily looking for anything else but I decided to take a look.  I found this gorgeous red scarf for $20 so added that to my purchases.  I can’t wait for some cooler weather.

2015-03-23 02Thanks to discounts and a $50 gift card I ended up getting the bag and scarf for $114.

I also ordered this dress from Rivette & Blair in Melbourne.

2015-03-21 02Instead of ordering online which is a relatively new innovation for this brand, I rang the store to check that the dress was an identical style to the 2 I already have.  I placed my order over the phone and was advised that there was 20% off the price and I also ended up ordering another in the same style which was on special for $59 which is less than half price.  The description is red and blue floral  so it will be a bit of a surprise packet!

That is certainly enough buying for me at the moment.

What about you?  Have you bought anything lately or scored a bargain?

Project 333 – Wardrobe Additions

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Adding to my wardrobe may seem to be contrary to the essence of Project 333 but it is not about denial but having a small collection of clothes that you love and wear.  The more I work with what I have the more clarity I have about the direction I want to take.

Last week I bought a new pair of shoes but they do not really count as they as for walking (exercise).

2015-03-21 01I did consider actually selecting 33 items to participate in Project 333  this autumn (fall) as I am in the southern hemisphere.  However, I am constantly drawn to the idea of a modest selection of clothes which can be worn year-round (with modifications) as we live in a warm temperate climate.  I work in an air-conditioned office during the week and live on a small, semi-rural acreage.

I tend to wear separates – skirts/trousers and shirts to the office and a few years ago I only owned one dress.  I have since realised that it was not really my choice – I love dresses – but dresses that I found suitable and flattering were difficult to find.  I now have 5 dresses plus a dress suitable for wedding/special occasions.  Additionally, I have fabric to make another dress and am seriously contemplating buying this one.

2015-03-21 02It is identical to these two dresses I already have in my wardrobe.

2013-02-11 02 2013-02-11 03Along with a plain black and two black/white dresses these could form the basis of a year-round office wardrobe.  I have a red jacket that can be worn with the two existing dresses and I would make or buy a navy jacket which could go with the new dress as well as the pink/red one.

My other proposed purchase is this bag.

2015-03-21 03I found it on Friday and plan to go back and buy it on Monday.  I have been looking for a bigger bag for some months as I want to be able to put my laptop in it and still have space for a few personal items – purse, sunglasses, phone, car keys.  My plan is to make this the one bag that I take to work so that I am not carrying a laptop case as well as a handbag.  My small black handbag will still be used on all other occasions.

By judiciously choosing the additions to my wardrobe and removing those items that do not make the grade, I am gradually creating a collection of clothes that I love and which work together in a variety of ways.

Unlike the earrings, my clothes are definitely a work in progress and that will continue to be the case.  What was perfect 3 years ago is now worn out, looking a bit jaded, no longer a perfect fit or just not a favourite.  I can see my wardrobe evolving to match my changing style.

An Introduction & Dog Food Delivery

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Introducing……..GMan.

I know it is nothing like any of your suggestions, nor is it remotely linked to any of the ideas that I put forward but my husband is satisfied with the title so that is what matters.

So, The Duke is no more and GMan has joined the cast at Organised Castle.

2015-03-19 01We are not huge fans of online shopping but there are some instances where it is definitely worthwhile and pet food and supplies are one of them.  This tends to be GMan’s domain and he orders tick and flea medication for the dog online.  A few months ago he discovered that we could buy the dog food we usually purchase and it was cheaper to buy online and have it delivered than we where we had previously bought it.  We buy 2 x 15kg sacks at a time and they are delivered to the door within a couple of days of placing the order.  We no longer have a 70km round trip to buy it and don’t have to hoist 30kg of dog food into and out of the boot of the car.  This is definitely quicker, easier and less expensive so we will definitely continue to buy it online.

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Do you shop online?  What do you buy?

Gluttony

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It has been really interesting to read all of your comments on my post about food being wasted.  Thanks for your input.  I know I have said it before but it is the comments and subsequent ‘conversations’ that really add value to the blog.

Tonight I want to share an old post from 2012 on a similar theme.  The thing that really strikes me about the processed food is the brightly coloured packaging – lots of red and yellow are the dominant theme.  Are we really that easily seduced by pretty packets?

Over the past couple of days I have been working hard to re-instate more photos into the old blog posts so I encourage you to do a bit of blog-surfing and see what you find.  You can always comment on old posts and I will respond.  If you choose one that still has no photos please leave a comment and I will make it a priority.

2006-01-06 004I thought I would share this photo of hang-gliders over our backyard.  We live quite close to a popular launch site and in the right conditions they often drift over our property.  I prefer to keep my feet on the ground but it is marvellous to lie on the back lawn and gaze up at them floating overhead.

New For Old

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Apart from consumables such as food and to a lesser degree clothing, I do not have a need to buy a great deal of stuff.  Household items sometimes need to be replaced and I think this purchase falls into that category.

I bought a set of two china mixing bowls from Aldi for the princely sum of $10.  It bothers me a bit because how something can be produced, transported across the globe and sold at a profit defies logic.  Someone is losing out and I suspect it is the worker.  This is a good reason to minimise your purchases, particularly of cheap, imported products.

2015-03-02 01They are to replace these two bowls which have seen better days.

2015-03-02 02The white bowl is a Tupperware one which came to me from my grandmother about 37 years ago.  The surface is crazed and discoloured.  The yellow bowl (36 years old) is more of a salad bowl and not ideal for mixing and it has a crack in the surface which makes it impossible to clean properly.  It is time for them both to go and make way for my shiny new bowls.  I hope they stand the test of time as the others did.

Tracking 2015 – February

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At the end of January I wrote a post about tracking our spending for the year.

It is now the end of February and we have continued our diligence in order to create an accurate picture of our variable spending.

BudgetingThere was no more holiday spending and our grand total for February was $1,620.92 which is almost exactly $1,000 less than the total for January (excluding bookings for our holiday).  Many, but not all categories were substantially less.  This was not because of any concerted effort, but rather, is an indication of how our costs fluctuate on a month by month basis.

Food made up a much smaller proportion with a spend of $233 in February compared to $633 in January.

Most importantly, if the food and transport costs for the first 2 months of 2015 were averaged out over a 12 month period they work out to slightly less than the figure I put in our budget estimation late last year for the financial planner.  This makes me feel as though I have a pretty good idea of where our money goes and how much it costs us to live.  The proof will come later in the year if the figures continue to stack up.

Savvy Spending

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Today was my day off and I had arranged to meet some friends at the coast.  We had morning tea and a long chat in a park and it was after 1pm by the time I headed off.  I had planned to use the trip and petrol consumption wisely by incorporating a visit to East Coast Fabrics.  I am regularly disappointed by the range and quality of fabrics available at Spotlight and Lincraft so when I heard advertisements for East Coast Fabrics on the radio recently, I made a mental note to check them out.

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Since I am working through my stash of existing fabrics I am loathe to buy too much so I was fairly restrained.  I bought these two pieces to make some more skirts.  The mint green piece is linen and the other is a lightweight denim.  The fabric plus a zip for each skirt cost $18.91 which I think is pretty good for two skirts.  I will be using the same pattern that I used for this skirt I made recently.

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I am planning to take these skirts when we go to Singapore in September.  I have worked out which tops I will wear with them.  There is this one that I made a few weeks ago.

2015-01-03 01I have chosen another three tops.

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My thoughts are that all of the tops will go with the denim skirt, all except the yellow can be teamed with the green skirt and the striped skirt can be worn with either the yellow or white tops.

I plan to add 2 pairs of sandals, a pashmina, bathers, sarong, hat, fabric shoulder bag and umbrella.  A pair of pyjamas and some underwear and I will be set for pretty well anything that a week in Singapore can throw at me.

What do you think?

New & Shiny Stuff

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Regular readers would know that I am not an advocate of shopping.  Of course, I buy food to feed us and things that we use in our day-to-day lives but I am definitely not into shopping for recreation.

Every now and then I have a day like today when all I seem to do is buy.  I had to go to Brisbane this morning with The Duke as we were to pick up our latest purchase this afternoon, but more about that later.  It meant that I had the whole day to fill in so my first stop was Spotlight.  I bought 5 white buttons for a blouse I am making and I also took some time to look at the fabrics which were all 40% off the marked price.  I do not buy things just because they are discounted but I found some fabric that I am planning to use.

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The white piece is linen/cotton blend and I am planning to make a summer dress for myself.  I also bought some white lawn (not shown) for the lining.  I am going to use this dress as the pattern.

Black dress with white spots
The red is a stretch cotton (t-shirt) fabric which I plan to make a copy of a top I bought earlier in the year.

The other piece is white with black silhouettes of kitchen utensils and I am going to make some more potholders and a cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer which lives on the corner of the bench in the kitchen.

After my Spotlight expedition I went to visit my mother and we went to a large shopping centre near where she lives.  Apart from having lunch there we wandered around and I checked out several boutiques and I ended up buying a pair of white, slim-fitting trousers and a blue, patterned cardigan/bolero.  I did try on numerous other pieces but I am very selective in the clothes I buy and wanted to be sure that were exactly what I wanted but more on those another day.

The final hurrah was to pick up our new car after our previous one was deemed to be a total write-off after the damage sustained during the recent ferocious hailstorm.

I am planning a much less adventurous day tomorrow.  I will be staying at home and hope to get some sewing done.  It will not be any of the new material just yet as I have a couple of other projects that I need to complete before I start any new ones.

What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?  Partying or a quiet night at home?

 

 

Sexism, Sadness and Simplicity

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The catalyst for writing this post came in the form of a post on a friend’s Facebook page where she posted a link to this article.  While the ‘extreme grooming’ that is described in the article is about a television presenter, it can be seen every day in our offices and shops.

Then just to top it off I found another link via Facebook about the ‘social experiment’ conducted by Karl Stefanovic.  He wore the same suit every day for a year – and no-one noticed.  This was his silent protest to highlight the way his female co-hosts were constantly judged and critiqued on what they wore and their hairstyles.

These articles in the media highlight the unreasonable pressures and expectations that society has on women in general and more specifically women who are constantly in the spotlight such as television presenters.  It saddens me to realise how much of this pressure is on women in all walks of life.

There have been small, incremental steps to break down these ‘societal norms’ but we must all be a part of the solution if things are really to change. The Little Brown Dress project by Alexa Martin in 2005 – 2006 chronicled her anti-consumerism stance in which she wore the same dress every day for a year.  Like Karl Stefanovic, no-one really noticed.  Project 333, is loosely based on the same principle – have a small number of clothes that you wear and love and realise that the world mostly does not care what you wear.  Anyway, none of us should be defined by the clothes we wear.

Wardrobe

To return to the first link in this post, make-up and grooming are yet another facet of us feeling the expectation that we have to present ourselves to the world in a certain way.

Make-up module

I have never been a great fan of make-up and tend to keep my make-up to an absolute minimum.  I no longer colour my hair and have a small but much-loved selection of clothes.  My clothes fit my lifestyle and I feel good in them.

What about you?  Do you feel pressured to present a certain face to the world?  Does your workplace have an expectation of how you are groomed?